Take it to Heart
by Twilight Scribe
Summary: SpiderMan stopped dead in his tracks, stunned. An impressive feat when one is webswinging across the New York skyline. He was very glad there was no one walking below to see him when he crashed into the side of that apartment building...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Spidey. An action figure yes, but Spider-Man? No.

AN: Supervillains, no matter how cunning or technically brilliant they may be, are inherently stupid. That said, this fic takes place in the classic comic (not Ultimate) universe at no specific time or place. The only real carry-over from the movies is that MJ has her Emma Rose billboard deal.

* * *

Spider-Man stopped dead in his tracks, stunned. An impressive feat when one is web-swinging across the New York skyline. He was very glad there was no one walking below to see him when he crashed into the side of that apartment building...

What startled Spider-man so badly that he almost dropped his webline was a billboard. A billboard so outrageous that Thomas Fireheart's pro-Spidey campaign, Jonah's anti-Spidey crusade, and even MJ's Emma Rose endorsement paled in comparison to the sheer shock value of the running advertisement.

The appalling ad was a promotional poster for a new electric company that would be coming in to offer competition to the city's long-standing power sources. It was a four-story high affair, plastered with a profile shot of Max Dillon's craggy face and "Dillon Electric" in huge print across the top. Out of costume, Dillon was still recognizable, but didn't look that much like his charged alter ego. Spider-Man almost didn't realize it was him at first glance, but after closer inspection, there was no doubt.

Electro, for all appearances, had gone legit and started his own business.

Never in a million years would Spider-Man have ever believed this bizarre twist of fate could actually have occurred. He was frozen, paralyzed with a triple dose of disbelief as he regarded the billboard from again from his perch on a rooftop across the street.

He couldn't believe that the city had given Electro, of all people, a green light to start a power company. He couldn't believe that Dillon had taken his advice. Most of all, Spider-Man couldn't believe that the supervillains he fought, Max at least, actually paid attention to and remembered whatever sarcastic one-liner he threw out after beating and webbing them up.

Who knew? He had always assumed they brushed it off and came back for another chance at his red and blue hide.

As he cast another glance at the offending ad, Spider-Man remembered the battle that no doubt sparked the whole chain of unsettling events.

- X -

Eight months ago, he and Electro had faced off on the top of the Empire State Building. It was a dramatic setting for the end of a dramatic fight.

That last time, Electro's aim was to rob several banks across the city and then drain New York of power, yet again, to bulk up his own reserves of cash and energy. A generally silly reason to cause citywide blackouts, panic, and riots; and an endeavor that Spider-Man foiled with several well-placed, rubber-insulated punches. Not to say it had been easy, of course.

When the electric blasts ceased, the dust settled, and all was said and done, Spider-Man sported enough burns and scorches to make him look like a "boiled lobster" as Mary Jane put it. But Electro was safely cocooned away, bound with Spidey's own special asbestos-laced formula of web fluid and lashed securely to a conveniently placed radio antenna bolted to the roof.

Spider-Man could remember exactly what he had said to the indisposed supervillain. Just earlier that day he had received the bill for the month's rent, along with a statement of what increases he'd have to pay due to the price hikes in utilities. The skyrocketing cost of living was, understandably, making him just a wee bit bitter.

_"Electro, you juiced-up idiot! Why do you keep doing this? You always end up losing whatever cash you steal, so it can't be for the money."_

From beneath the many layers of web came a mumbled reply that it was indeed about the money. Profit was everything.

_"Why crime then? Haven't you heard it doesn't pay? Stop and think for a second. This city, this entire country is in the middle of an energy crisis right now. Have you even glanced at the price of gas in the past few months?"_

Silence from inside the cocoon told Spider-Man that Electro had either not noticed, or had passed out. It hardly mattered though, he was in a mood to rant and nothing short of a pumpkin bomb to the face would stop him.

_"That's the thing about you supervillains, you never think! You get absolutely nothing from robbing banks, but if you were to just go legit you could easily make millions. With your powers you could, I don't know, start your own electric company and earn an honest fortune. You could probably fuel the entire East Coast with your powers, but you waste it!"_

The cocoon remained silent and still, not giving any clues as to what thoughts were running through Electro's head.

_"Ah, you're probably out like a light... Oh well, I'm used to talking to myself. It's been fun Electro, but the police are on their way so I've got to run. Do me a favor, serve your time, eat all your vegetables, and start making money legally when you get out, okay? Maybe then I won't have to get all burnt up again. These costumes are expensive, you know."_

- X -

Months later, Spider-Man was shocked to see how it had all worked out. Max Dillon, Electro, one of his oldest and most deadly enemies, was now a respectable businessman. It was akin to hearing that the Vulture had given up his evil ways and landed a role on Sesame Street. Odd, but good to know there was some hope for him yet.

Even thought it had been at his suggestion, he couldn't help but feel the whole mess was fundamentally wrong. However, there was some good hidden behind all of the insanity.

Thanks to Dillon's new lifestyle, Spider-Man would never have to limp home from a day of fighting covered in electrical burns ever again. No more scorched costumes and smelling of smoldering web-fluid for days afterwards. And who knows, with a new competitor in town the prices of natural gas and electricity might go down to being just barely reasonable again.

It might even be enough to bring his rent back down.

* * *

AN: "With great power comes great responsibility." And great profit, if you use it correctly and within the letter of the law. Why do the villains never get that? Doesn't the Vulture have any idea how valuable his electromagnetic flying rig would be to the military? He has a patent on it; he could be richer than he ever was as a thief! (And he was very rich at times.) Scorpion too. He may not be smart enough to design and recreate it, but the cybernetics in his costume's tail would be a dream to any company trying to design prosthetic limbs. And the Green Goblin-! ... He was already rich. Forget him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I also have a Doc Ock action figure, and a Green Goblin plushie. (It's surprisingly cuddly...)

AN: Hey, check it out! Another chapter! Dig it. Again, this is set in the classic comic universe, taking place a few months after chapter one. Also, I reference Peter's police radio scanner a la Spider-Man three, but that's all for the movie canon. Oh, and also also, it seems I actually do make a couple Ultimate Spidey references, but nothing really big. That said, rock on!

* * *

"I can't believe it... All this time, I thought I actually got through to Electro."

Spider-Man swung through downtown Manhattan at a breakneck pace, stretching his webs to their limit. His destination was a bank almost halfway across the city. The Bugle's "sources," a police scanner very much like Peter's own, had reported a bank heist in progress, one involving an electric-powered metahuman.

While he hoped it wasn't Electro who was trying to break the bank, Spider-Man was prepared for the worst. He had to be realistic. After all, how many other super-powered lightning bugs were there running loose in New York? The odds were stacked against him.

"I should know better by now. Supervillains never quit. They don't even have the decency to stay dead after they die! It's like it goes against their code or something... Ah, well here goes nothing."

The bank was fully in view. It was a solid, sturdy brick building with soaring windows and heavy baroque styling. Created by scores of master architects and masons back in the days when they 'made things right,' the bank always stood as a pillar of stability and strength. An institution you could and would feel confident entrusting your hard-earned coin to, if you overlooked the police completely surrounding the venerable structure and the crackling of high voltage that echoed from within, that is.

As he swung in overhead, Spider-Man took a moment to scope out the situation. Every street leading to the bank had been cordoned off, much to the webslinger's relief. No civilian traffic would mean fewer innocent bystanders if things got ugly. The bank itself was ringed with squad cars and a few SWAT vans. Cruisers clogged every available inch of pavement while officers peered from behind the cover of their vehicles, waiting cautiously for their opportunity to move in.

The situation was tense, likely to explode at any moment into a hail of bullets, tear gas grenades, and electricity. An outcome that would definitely be unhealthy for any hostages Electro might have in there with him. In cases like this Spider-Man found the safest course of action was simply to do what he did best; namely making sure all bullets, blasts, and other deadly implements of doom were aimed directly at his bright red chest and away from everyone else.

Circling the block once to break his speed, Spider-Man tucked into a compact ball and let what remained of his momentum shoot him through one of the bank's shattered windows and into the lobby.

- X -

The atmosphere within the bank was about the same as without. Tense, volatile, with maybe just a hint more fear. From his perch high up on one of the bank's marble support pillars, the first place he stuck upon entering, Spider-Man could clearly see the crime as it unfolded below. About fifteen people, hostages, cowered in the far corner of the lobby against the back wall. The on-duty tellers could hardly be seen, all ducked down behind the relative safely and cover of their windows.

The civilians seemed to be out of danger for the moment, but Spider-Man could count at least ten guards and armored car drivers who weren't so lucky. The men laid strewn about the lobby; draped over desks, face down on the floor, or slumped against the walls, wherever the blasts of electricity flung them. Thankfully none of them seemed to be dead, all breathing shallowly, just shocked into unconsciousness.

And there, standing calmly in the middle of all the chaos, holding one last guard several feet off the ground by his collar, was Electro. Max might not have been in costume, but the arcs of energy sizzling across the surface of his leather jacket and down his jeans were rather characteristic. This situation would take some finesse... Or at least a bit of speed and a good old-fashioned fist in the face.

"Tsk, you went and had a party and didn't invite me? I'm hurt Electro. I thought we were friends!" The villain's head snapped up to the pillar, noticing the brightly-colored hero adhered there for the first time.

"Spider-Man! I've been waiting for you to show up." Giving the unconscious guard in his grasp one last shake, Dillon tossed the man aside carelessly, letting him fall to the ground a few feet from where he stood. Shoving his hands into his pockets, the supposedly reformed villain turned to face the webslinger properly. "What took you so long?"

"Well I heard there was some weirdo using lightning to hold up a bank so I had to go check it out." Spider-Man quipped, his voice laden with familiar sarcasm, as he sprung from the pillar to an empty patch of wall over the bank vault's door; a position closer to Electro and easier to act from if need be. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you Max?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?" Dillon shifted slightly to keep Spider-Man in front of him, but did nothing else.

"No."

"That's a problem then, in'nit?"

Silence. Spider-Man hardly knew what to think, it was all too surreal. He had come to bust up a robbery, but there stood Max Dillon, Electro, calm, with his hands casually tucked out of the way in his pockets and completely powered down. According to his spider-sense, he wasn't in danger. It didn't even start tingling when some of the braver civilians began creeping carefully from their hiding places. Spider-Man, very literally, trusted his spider-sense with his life, but Electro was right there! How could he not be in peril? It was just too weird. The webslinger let the silence stretch just a tic longer before deciding something absolutely had to be said.

"Well, I notice a distinct lack of you trying to kill me. What gives?" The look of confusion on Dillon's unmasked face was classic.

"Why should I fry ya? You know I went legit, webhead."

"Yet here you are, robbing a bank."

"Robbing a-?" A small chuckle escaped the reformed supervillain as comprehension dawned on him. "Nice. I turn on the juice to keep these yutzes from cleaning out the place and I'm the bad guy? Lemme guess, this is what it's like with you and the papers."

Spider-Man froze as the realization of what just happened sunk in. When the police dispatch said a metahuman was "involved", he assumed that meant "responsible," but no. It wasn't Electro who tried to rob the bank, it was Max Dillon who stopped the robbers. Unbelievable... By the time he was fully able to process the information, the tellers and former hostages were all but swarming around Dillon; offering praise, thanks, and making the man, who was unused to such attention, feel practically uncomfortable. Still getting no warning from his spider-sense, Spider-Man dropped from the wall to inspect the unconscious guard Electro threw down earlier then glanced around at the other uniformed figures lying about the lobby.

"You're kidding... All right then, what's the story on these guys?"

"Don't know for sure, but they're the robbers. I'm guessin' they dressed up as guards to get in and get to the vault without making a fuss. I was here making a deposit, so I decided to rough 'em up a little." While Spider-Man would usually not have trusted the word of anyone he suspected, there was his own intuition backing Electro up and plenty of civilian witnesses willing to corroborate the tale.

"We thought they were just guards, but then they started pulling out guns..." A young lady spoke up. She seemed to be about the same age as Spider-Man and obviously shaken by the day's experience.

"We would've been in real trouble if this guy wasn't there to beat those hoods." An old man to Dillon's right said proudly, as if praising his own son for a job well done, as he jabbed a thumb at Max. "He's a hero!" A chorus of voices from the crowd of hostages agreed, some in low murmurs and some in loud cheers.

This was not what Spider-Man expected when he suited up and swung off to bust crime. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that Electro, of all people, would beat him to the punch foiling a robbery. It was utterly bizarre, but seemingly true. He had been wrong, Electro really was reformed. After taking a moment to absorb that fact, Spider-Man shook his head in amazement.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thanks Max. You did good." Commotion from outside the bank, warning that the police would be coming in soon, made the webslinger kick into high gear. Leaping up onto the marble pillar, he shot a web up to the windowsill where he came in. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll let you handle the police."

"No prob. And webhead?" Spider-Man paused, delaying escape for a few seconds in order to hear the new hero out. "Thanks for the advice. This whole 'legit' business worked out real good."

Spider-Man smiled under his mask fully aware that no one else could see. "No prob." Then he was gone.

- X -

The next morning as Spidey relaxed in his comfortable web-hammock, strung high in an alley between two office buildings, with the morning paper, he was astounded to find that the Daily Bugle had actually run an accurate story about a metahuman.

_'There's A New Hero In Town! Electrifying energy magnate Max Dillon foils bank robbery...'_

"Way to go, Max..." The headline for the related article on the bottom of the front page, _'Where Was Spider-Man?'_, cooled his enthusiasm just a little, (Though it was expected. Jolly ol' Jonah would never pass up a chance to bash his webbed scapegoat.) but not enough to offset the extreme coolness of knowing he helped transform a long-time enemy into a productive member of society. Neat.

It really inspired hope; not just for Max's future, but for all of Spider-Man's foes. Rhino could get into demolition, Hydroman and Sandman could do search-and-rescue work with their abilities to get into small unreachable places. Mysterio could go back to work in Hollywood with his amazing special effects, and Kraven... Hm, maybe a reality TV show?

And Doc Ock... That would be a good one, if only he could convince the doctor to go through with it. Renting himself out as a carnival ride, that is. Who wouldn't want to go on the Ock-O-Whirl? It sounded like a blast!

Spider-Man put down the paper with a sigh. He knew there was no way Octavius would ever do anything so humiliating and degrading. Too bad. It would've been hilarious...

* * *

AN: There you go, Electro's officially a good guy now! Providing the greater New York area with affordable, eco-friendly energy and the occasional act of super-heroism. Way to go Max!


End file.
